Got to the coarse early around 6:30am. Start was at 7:40. Got number pinned and started to roll around the coarse with Roy and Geno to warm up. Roads were wide, 3 lanes on two sides, 2 on the other 2. Smoothest road surface i’ve raced on, only a few slightly sunken manhole covers to radle you on the coarse. Sun was coming out so i was warming up nicely after a few laps.
With about 5 minutes till the start we pulled to the start line. We had six team members for this race which was nice. My strategy was going to be try and sit in and be patient, look after team members, if one of them gets caught out in the wind let them in, help Geno out at the end if I had anything left. He had the best shot at a good placement and i know he’s strong and can probably manage on his own.
Whistle blows and we’re off. The first 10 or so laps are pretty uneventful. Speed was pretty low around 24-25 avg around each lap. We were bunching up in the tighter corners, turn 1 and 4. Turns 2 and 3 were huge so we could go 4-5 wide. E5 there were no cash prizes and as a result not much dashing early on. I stayed near the middle and around the other guys. It was pretty easy to move around the pack. Riding next to Geno with around 7 to go i looked back and noticed we were at the back, so I let him know we should probably start moving up. I had a feeling it was going to get a little sketch with such a big group and the low speeds. There was a lot of energy there to be released in a big sprint.
Around 4 to go I made a move to the front. Speeds weren’t that high so it was pretty easy. Got within the top 10-12 riders and just sat in. 3 laps to go I started to feel the speed picking up. It was around 27-28 avg around each lap. I was glad because I didn’t want to see an unsafe finish. I was holding my position in the top 3rd of the field and i knew i wanted to be there in case something happened. Second to last lap speed is pretty intense we’re starting to go through the corners pretty fast. Right after turn 4 I hear a crash behind me. I don’t look back since i was afraid i might lose it just doing that. I was thinking crap we had guys back there. Last lap went through the next turn and then looked back to see what the damage was. There wasn’t much of a field left. Didn’t see Darryl, Roy, Ken or Tony. Crap. Just me and Geno ahead of me. Speed was still high, going through turn 3 my rear wheel hit something and jumped. Saved it. One other guy yells at me Close one there! I’m thinking the same. One more turn thank god. Not sure why but the guy in front was setting up the last turn from the right lane. I swong out to the middle lane to have a better line. The guys in front of me started to get out of the saddle heading to the finish. My heart rate was going through the roof so i wasn’t going to try and sprint. Those guys started to pull away. Oh well nothing else i can do, just try to hang in there. I think i saw one guy go by but i was able to hold on to 10th place my best finish so far. Geno sprints for second place. Great job!
Rolled around one more lap to cool down. After turn 4 I see my brother sitting on the grass holding his shoulder. Not looking too good. Glad all the other guys made it through. He went to get it checked out and its a broken collar bone. Unfortunate he’ll be out for a little bit but should be ok after 5 weeks.